Title page for ETD etd-06242010-172854

Athens and Byzantium: Platonic Political Philosophy in Religious Empire

Degree

Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)

Department

Political Science

Advisory Committee

Advisor Name

Title

Stoner, James R., Jr.

Committee Chair

Clark, William A.

Committee Member

Crystal, Ian

Committee Member

Eubanks, Cecil L.

Committee Member

Sandoz, G. Ellis

Committee Member

Constant, W. David

Dean's Representative

Keywords

statesmanship

republicanism

empire

Neoplatonism

Plato

Date of Defense

2010-06-16

Availability

unrestricted

Abstract

It is traditionally understood that there is a gap, which spans well over one thousand years, between Platoís own political philosophy and its successor in medieval Islamic philosophy. A most likely bridge between Plato and these later philosophers is Neoplatonism. However, scholars argue that this philosophic school abandoned its predecessorís emphasis on political philosophy. This dissertation challenges the traditional interpretation by reconstructing a political philosophy based on a Neoplatonic commentary on Platoís Gorgias. The first two chapters place this commentary within its historical context, as well as its place within the larger Neoplatonic pedagogy. The remainder of the dissertation reconstructs the commentatorís political philosophy. The third chapter discusses his understanding of the best regime and the art of statesmanship, which in many ways is the centerpiece of his political philosophy. Chapters four and five discuss myth and rhetoric, the tools needed by the statesman to bring about the best regime. The following chapter revisits the theme of statesmanship, particularly the notion of the philosopher as statesman.